1) Name of Pinball : Gottlieb Mibs 1969
2) What's so GOOD about this pin? :
a) gameplay. One of the last 2” flipper pins, designed by one of the masters Ed Krynski (R.I.P dude) and artwork by Art Stenholm. This game was released as both Rack a Ball 1962 and Bowling Queen 1964 previously. The later 2 were designed by Wayne Neyens and art by Roy Parker. Have all 3 in the collection. The game play sounds so lame compared to the more modern pins but the idea is there are 12 rollovers lit at the start of the game, each rollover ‘racks’ one of the backglass animation balls in the head. Each rollover can rack one ball, so specials are awarded at usually 9, 11 and 12. There are also 3 stationary targets which are red, yellow and red/white. Hitting all 3 targets lights the specials that alternate on the out lanes.
b) skills & challenges. As mentioned above, also the rollovers score 500 when lit, once the ball goes over this and racks the ball that rollover is only worth 50 points until the end of the game. Also the 3 stationary targets advance the scores on certain features. The yellow target on the left scores 100 points and lights the yellow bumpers for 10 points (they were only 1 point at the start of the game). The red target on the right scores 100 points and lights the red bumpers for 10 points. Hitting the top red/white target above the flippers lights the 2 side kickers for 10 points. To score a game on points required 5,500 for the first, 6,500 for the second and 7,000 for the third replay.
c) slow/fast action. Surprising this game plays fast. The game in my collection has been fully torn down and rebuilt, so she plays awesome!
d) music & Effects. Well she might lack here as it only has 3 chimes, one for the 1 point, one for the 10 point and the other for the 100 points.
What makes this game kick arse is holds immense memories – it was the last old school 2” flipper game on location and we used to play it to death. The largest thrill was winning 3 replays on one shot. This was achieved by getting the required points for a replay by rolling the ball over one of the out lane rollovers that were lit for special and at the same time racking another ball for the animation special in the head. Some games you can win 3 games on points, 3 games on the backglass animation specials and a few games on special on the out lanes. The game in my collection came down from Queensland via my good friend Michael Shalhoub and was near mint before being fully restore and rebuilt
3) What's so BAD about this pin?
a) gameplay. None
b) skills & challenges. None - if you can play an old EM well you can play the new stuff blindfolded
c) slow/fast action. None
d) music & Effects. Some might think only having 3 chimes would be lacking but she sure makes some noise when in full flight
e) faults, Bugs'n'Glitches including Mods or Maintenance required: Ha ha ha – she is an old Gottlieb mechanical – she just keeps going. This game worked when I got it and hasn’t missed a beat in the 12 years she has been in my collection
